Artic as a regional security complex ( An application of regional security complex theory to the geopolitical region of the Artic in a broader context of regionalist approaches to international security)

This thesis deals with the case of the Arctic which forms a distinctive geopolitical region within the international system. The geostrategic importance of the Arctic har become more salient due to global warming, technological progress and latest findings about large oil and gas resources, rich fishing waters and new maritime routes. The Arctic region is being classified through the lenses of one of the most influential regionalist concepts in the modern IR theory and international security studies - the regional security complex theory developed by Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver who represent the core of the so called Copenhagen school of IR thought. The main aim of the thesis is to examine whether such a specific geopolitical region as the Arctic could be analyzed from the perspective of this theory and defined as a regional security complex with a distinctive security dynamics and a dense net of linkages interconnecting major processes of securitization and desecuritization. This research question seeks to suggest a theoretical and analytical tool for studying the specific regional dynamics of the Arctic, and alternatively identify shortcomings of the theory in confrontation with the case and propose possible theoretical modifications. The thesis concludes that the Arctic can be classified as a..